Evaluation of Optical Characteristics of Faraday Glass Multilayer Films

In this report, we describe the optical characteristics of periodic multilayer films composed of Faraday glass. The evaluation indicates that the multilayer film made of FR5 and BK7 exhibits an enhanced Faraday effect and that the Faraday rotation exceeds 40 degree with a film thickness less than 20ƒÊm. Taking an ad vantage of the paramagnetic nature for FR5, the film can function as an optical switch driven by magnetic field and a magnetic field sensor element.[Received March 17,1999; Accepted June 21, 1999]